Who wrote this?

Rob is 28 (but needs his beard to actually look like it), loves music, adventures and spontaneous people. His scribblings are about these things too, so if you share his interests, stay tuned!

Once a year almost all museums in Amsterdam extend their opening hours to late at night and roll in bars, DJs, dancers, film screens, food stands and more good stuff. Locals will already be familiar with Museumnacht (museum night), this is its thirteenth edition, but I am pretty sure you can count the amount of people who have seen all participating museums on the fingers of one hand. So whoever you are, a night of discovery, party and culture awaits you! I’ve highlighted some parts of the programme to help on you on the way.

Oude Kerk

In this old church Rocket Cinema will take care of the programme for the night. Four old, gothic films will be shown with a new soundtrack that will be performed live. Due to the amazing acoustics of this church I can see this being an imposing experience. I myself am looking forward to the showing of the Hunchback of the Notre Dame, support by live ’70s psychedelic music.

Tattoo Museum

The tattoo museum will be dedicated to the traditional pin-up for the night. Expect to see a lot of Betty Pages walking around, as there will be look-a-like contest in the museum. You can also learn how to draw a pin-up, get your photo taken as one, watch Betty Page films, enjoy traditional American food such as cotton candy and hot-dogs and get a pin-up tattoo of course.

Joods Historisch Museum & Portuguese synagogue

This one’s for all you foodies out there. The Jewish historical museum will set up a special food exhibition. Come enjoy challas (Jewish bread) and other Jewish snacks, join the food workshop by Hotmamahot, compete in the kosher food quiz or walk across the street to the Portuguese synagogue for a special falafel bar. Hungry yet? There will also be some music to help digesting all these goodies, including a gig by Jewish singer Noam Vazana.

Take a tour

If you’re really bad at making your own decisions, the team behind Museumnacht has set up a few very creative tours for you. They all have a specific theme and guide you to a few similar museums. For example, there is the ‘lekkerbekje’ tour which is for all the food lovers in Amsterdam; it will take you to all museums that offer a special food programme during the night, such as the Jewish historical museum. Other options include the ‘vlammetjes’ tour for couples and the ‘vrijheidsstrijder’ tour for people interested in war themed museums. Check them all out here.